On Media

Dicker turns on Cuomo over gun package

By DYLAN BYERS

01/15/2013 11:40 AM EST

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's new gun-control package is drawing sharp criticism from one of his most reliable allies: The New York Post editor and Albany radio host Fred Dicker, who calls it "a Trojan Horse" effort to "regulating every single gun" in New York.

As Capital New York's Azi Paybarah reports, Dicker is usually Cuomo's "closest and most influential ally in the media... a consistent booster of Cuomo and... a useful clearing house for Cuomo's proposals, personnel decisions and political threats, which often appear first in Dicker's column as lightly attributed offerings of sources close to the governor. (He's also writing a book about Cuomo, with the full cooperation of the governor's staff.)

But on today's radio show, Dicker described the package as being "all in secret, typical Albany, behind closed doors," and accused Cuomo of using the tragedy to push his gun agenda, perhaps in order to win national attention.

"This is a Trojan Horse. This is not about semi-automatic rifles. This is a sweeping set of gun laws the governor is using," he said. "The governor is using the tragedy... as a justification for sweeping changes in gun laws including regulating every single gun millions of New Yorkers now own... It's another reason people are going to be leaving New York."